People First Culture and Owning Your Decisions with Fergus Williams

09/20/22 • 41 min

Fergus Williams is the CEO of Walking With The Wounded (WWTW), a UK charity that supports injured former members of the UK armed forces during their career transition from military to civilian life. Over the past decade, Fergus and his team have supported more than 15,000 veterans in the United Kingdom.

Fergus first served in the British Army for nine years as an infantry officer with the Welsh Guards, ending his career as a staff officer for HRH (His Royal Highness), the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III. After leaving the Army, Fergus held several commercial positions, including running his own project management company in the banking and finance sector.

He leads WWTW with a culture that puts the customer first. This service culture was tested by the COVID-19 outbreak. But his team and he responded quickly and were able to contribute to the veterans online.

Fergus started using the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) system to better manage his team remotely. He sets a goal for the team, and they pursue that goal without worrying about all the side issues. As a leader, he aims to create an environment where his team can grow and deliver quality services both in-person and online.

During his time at the Royal Military Academy and as a soldier, Fergus learned the values of leadership. He realized that service is a privilege of leadership and that humility is the other key element. For him, it's all about listening to others' perspectives and bringing out the best in people.

In this episode’s Thought Leadership Spotlight segment, Pete Burbidge, General Manager of Dale Carnegie London and Southeast UK, explains how Dale Carnegie's principles led him to make a life-changing decision and move into action with a positive attitude. Like Fergus, Pete reminds us of the importance of standing by our decisions, facing the consequences, and learning from our mistakes if they occur.

Join us and listen to Fergus’s leadership insights on taking command of our decisions, leading with a people-first culture, gaining humility, and having a service mindset.

Walking with the Wounded

Joe Hart’s Fundraising Link– London Marathon WWTW 2022

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Join us and listen to Fergus’s leadership insights on taking command of our decisions, leading with a people-first culture, gaining humility, and having a service mindset.

Walking with the Wounded

Joe Hart’s Fundraising Link– London Marathon WWTW 2022

Please rate and review this Episode!

Previous Episode

How to Take Advantage of Opportunities when they Arise with Huynh Thanh Phong

Huynh Thanh Phongstarted his work in financial services and insurance in Asia and is now a well-respected figure in the global insurance industry with experience in several leadership roles, currently as the CEO and Executive Director of the FWD Group.

Phong’s life philosophy is that we must always be prepared so that when an opportunity presents itself, we can take advantage of it. He did that by developing a market for life insurance in Asian communities that had never bought such products before. He created long-term wealth, jobs, and economic development and improved the economy from a macro- and microeconomic perspective. His leadership advice is to always leverage our strengths and not pretend to be what or who we are not.

Phong is passionate about helping people. He finds different ways to do that while developing strong relationships. He believes in karma and his vision is grounded in doing good. If we do that, good things happen to us. His goal and passion are to improve the social safety net throughout Asia.

Phong also urges people to have passion for their work and to wake up every day excited about what they will do. We need to be prepared to work hard. The harder we work, the luckier we get. And financial reward comes later.

Please join us to listen to Phong’s insights on how to leverage our strengths, help people, do good, develop strong relationships, and work with passion.

Also, enjoy a short story by Linh Nguyen, CEO of Dale Carnegie Vietnam, on how by helping other people and doing good, we not only build relationships but also allow our business to grow in the long run.

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Next Episode

When Your Plan B Turns into Plan A with Susie Ma

Susie Ma is the Founder and CEO of Tropic Skincare. She is a philanthropist with a focus on creating a healthier, greener, and more empowered world. Tropic Skincare has been recognized at numerous stages, including “Fastest Growing Skincare Brand in the UK” by the Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 League Table. Most recently, it has been ranked the 14th best female-powered company in the UK by JP Morgan.

The company’s commitment to sustainability and disrupting the industry has also been recognized internationally with Marie Claire’s Sustainability Awards. In 2018, Susie was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Under her leadership, Tropic Skincare has funded a year’s worth of education for 4,000 children in rural Asia and a new forest with Forestry England in Hampshire in 2022.

At 15, Susie Ma and her mom moved from Australia to London. They struggled to make ends meet, so Susie decided to help her mom with the bills. That’s when she remembered spending time with her grandmother, who was a medicinal chemist, in tropical Nord Queensland, Australia. She taught Susie that our skin needs feeding with nourishing, healthy ingredients just as much as our bodies. Susie found her grandma’s recipe and began making body scrubs with natural ingredients.

This was her lightbulb moment for Susie. She would join her mom at London’s Greenwich Market to sell her body scrub. That Saturday at the market initiated a life-changing moment. She borrowed and invested £200 in the products and after an exhausting day of selling, Susie remembers counting her money— nearly £1000 —and realizing that “this was the beginning of everything.”

As a high school student, she wanted to do more. She headed off to college, where she majored in business so she could land a job where she could “make loads of money.” Right out of college, Susie landed a job as a foreign exchange trader at Citi Group. She achieved her dream of making lots of money. But by the end of her first work week, she felt something was missing. She quickly realized that she didn't just want to be working to earn good money. Instead, she wanted a job where she could enjoy herself daily.

She applied to the United Kingdom’s version of The Apprentice, hosted by Lord Alan Sugar, a hugely successful entrepreneur, and investor. Out of 73,000 applicants, Susie made the final 16 candidates. She did not win, but while she was on the show, she restarted her Tropic Body Scrub business, counting on the show’s publicity to drive sales. It worked. She sold out of products instantly, which garnered the attention of Sugar, who wanted to help her. Susie convinced him to invest £200,000 to become a 50% partner in the company.

While the investment helped, Susie built on her direct sales model, turning her first 400 customers into ambassadors who could generate up to a 30% commission on sales. That network of ambassadors has now grown to more than 20,000 around the UK and 400 full-time employees.

Susie has focused on positioning Tropic as a model for the beauty industry, using sustainable packaging, and donating 10% of its profits “to good causes to help towards that infinite purpose, which is to help create a healthier, greener, and more empowered world.” Susie wants to show the world just how much difference you can make and show people that no matter who you are or where you're from, and how old you are, you can make a difference.

Join us to listen to how Susie embraces challenges and opportunities, turns her Plan B into Plan A, and gives back to our planet and the underprivileged part of society.

Listen to Eudeshi Naidu, our special appearance from Dale Carnegie London, on how we can make a difference by applying the Dale Carnegie principles, going the extra mile, and creating a memorable experience for all.

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